PA cheese please

East Coast Trip Part 5

From Pittsburgh we drove northeast to Amish country. Near the town of Smicksburg we found a shop that sold cheese made from milk supplied by local Amish dairy farmers.

When I'm traveling, I love to try the local cheeses. Amish dairy farms don't use pesticides, chemical fertilizers or growth hormones, so their cheese fits right in with my organic philosophy.

Larry had picked up a flyer for an Amish cheese factory, but we found it had closed amidst rumors that the Englishers who opened it were ripping off the Amish.

We continued up the road and found B & B Country Cheese Shoppe, where they sell a wide variety of local cheese, respect the Amish, and are respected by them.

While we were at the cheese shop, a local farmer drove up in his buggy. Larry chatted with him and asked if he could take a picture of his buggy. You can see why.

Although we were spending nights at the homes of various friends and relatives, our days were spent on the road. Picnics of good bread, cheese and fruit made a great lunch. Way better than any of the fast food options on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

One of the pleasures of a cheese shop is tasting before buying. And I tasted many varieties at B & B Cheese Shoppe. Because Smicksburg is near the Pennsylvania / Ohio border, the store sold cheese from Ohio Amish dairies like Heinis and Yancey Fancey as well as PA cheese. I bought some garden yogurt cheese (tangy) and spicy Buffalo Wing Hot Sauce Cheddar (way spicy!). I also picked up some fresh cheese curds - the kind that squeak when you chew them. They evoked fond memories of poutine in Montreal.

(If you're in Smicksburg, it's just a short jaunt to see Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-forecasting groundhog. We headed south instead.)

As usual, I bought more cheese than we needed. We learned to freeze water bottles in our hosts' freezers overnight to use as ice packs to keep our cheese cold.

The Amish cheese was delicious, and got us through to Philadelphia, where I found a health food store to re-stock. You can never have too much good cheese.